Ball in general, life on the road… on this blog, either you do or you don't.

Friday afternoon tidbits: Anks out again

Greetings from Wrigley, and I wish you all could be here. Absolutely perfect weather, pennant-race baseball, life is good.

* Rick Ankiel is out for one more day, but tomorrow looks like the target day. He worked out before the game, and there were actually two lineups posted in the clubhouse — one with him, one without. One player cracked that it was the “Double Secret Ankiel Lineup.”

* And in case you’re wondering why Isringhausen hasn’t been quoted anywhere recently, he’s not doing interviews at all. I asked him again today, and he was civil about it, but he said he’s not talking.

Yes, from now on, all starters MUST pitch the entire game. No more bullpen — ever — if we want to win. I apologize for angry tone; I’m writing this in haste. I will regret it later and feel guilty I’m sure, but I live in the now and right now I want to throw something at my television.
–Jeffhttp://redstatebluestate.mlblogs.com/

I missed the game, heard the lowlights. Did Jimmy really flip his bat to show up the Cards or is that a spin being put on it to stir up things? Also what’s up with his post-game comments about St Louis and the Cards? If all this is true I am extremely disappointed as he has been a favorite in our house for so many years.

I would love Izzy to come through for us, I’m sure he feels worse than anyone else about the way his season is going. Not good news about Wainwright either. We are running out of season, and like always we need pitching help.

Just a question….dropped another “must win” close game against the Cubs today. This is about the time last year we fell apart. I know we’ve got two more series with the Cubs after this but seriously….are the Cards done after this series? Predictions?

Just when you think the pen is finally having a good game, they bring in a vet to show the kids before him how to really get it done! ATTABOY Franklin, thanks for proving how walking the leadoff man more times then not will come back to bite you right in the rear! What could of been this year if we only had a bullpen….Sigh

Sooo happy the genius brass has decided to use Wainright in the Pen instead of the rotation…IF this team happens to find a way into the playoffs…A 1-2-3 punch of Carp, Lohse, and Looper sounds much better then Carp, Wainright, Lohse…..what a joke! Putting a shut down starter in the pen hoping we give him a lead…Once again this front office impresses me lol

slata, the post season is a great deal different than the regular season. The challenge right now is to GET TO the post season. I am not convinced that having WW close is the best path to that, but it’s not unreasonable, and the composition of the playoff starting rotation can be addressed if and when it is needed. Don’t borrow trouble, and don’t throw stones without thinking.

Good for you, Izzy!! No distractions. I think that is a good decision for him to make. That way he doesn’t have it in the back of his mind about answering questions after the game. I hope that helps get him back on track mentally….I look forward to getting Anks back in the lineup and his defense & arm in CF….I still say the Cards need bullpen help, not a bat. Lopez signing means nothing.

Thanks to all you Redbird fans for coming up to the Chi! It was a great experience hanging with like-minded people in my city while watching the home run derby off of Big Z!
–Jeffhttp://redstatebluestate.mlblogs.com/

Maybe TLR learned a little something from the Scott Rolen debacle… It was said that yesterday Tony actually ASKED Glaus if he wanted the day off, instead of just benching him for his previous 0 for 29 vs. the teddy bears. I really like that. He never would have asked Scott. He would have just replaced him in the lineup with any lefty he could find to play 3rd. Or a righty if none available. But I bet Lopez would have started at third in that situation last year. Nice job ignoring the numbers THIS TIME Tony. I hope you keep it up in the future, when the situation dictates.

If Carp is going to be out for a bit..you change the direction on Wainright immediatly! Perez and Kyle have look very good lately and you give them the late innings. I still don’t like them grooming a guy that has proven he has Ace stuff for the bullpen anyway but thats just my opinion.

WOW!!! The Reds put Adam Dunn on the waiver wire?!! They couldn’t work out a trade for some real value??? Jocketty, WTF man?! Not that I care that much, but damn! That just seems so backwards. You’d think the league leader in HRs would be worth more than a minor leaguer and two PTBNL. Even if he is also the league leader in Ks.

CRAP!!!!! What a disappointment!!!! Here I was anxious to see him back in the rotation and help track down the Scrubs and Booers!
I tell you one thing though, after this last weekend the Scrubs will NOT win that division. Especially, the way Zambrano has pitched his last two outings. I’m starting to see life in this Cardinal team. As far as Carpenter goes, rub some Icy-Hot on it and tell him to go back out there and pitch! These players these days. I never see a QB or RB in the NFL have nearly the problems as a major league baseball player.

Tonight’s performance by Pineiro was impressive. Two weeks ago, when they started talking about using Waino in the bullpen, I was set against it because I thought Joel didn’t need to be in the starting rotation. But now that he’s proven that he should keep his job, I can see more benefits from Waino as a reliever (especially if Carp’s injury doesn’t result in an extended absence). It is too bad that Mulder probably won’t be a factor later in the season.

Why do we need Wainright in the Bullpen if Perez and McClellan continue to pitch like this? They have both proven they have the moxy to pitch at the back end of the bullpen. Keep them there and put a guy that can give you 7-8 quality innings back in the rotation. I don’t even understand the conversation with this!

They didn’t really know what they were getting with Perez, if he was going to be ready to assume the closer’s role or not. To me it looks like he pretty much is, but you could see some nervousness until Yaddi threw out Uggla (who was running…why?) and he settled down. I still would rather have Perez in there right now, have K-Mac (a tough as nails performance last night) and Franklin split set up roles, and then divide up from there long middle and situational.

And steve, every pitcher has a good start, Kip Wells had some good starts, did that change the fact he needed to be removed from the rotation? No, it didn’t. The same thing applies with Pineiro, one good start does not erase multiple bad starts.

Here is my take on Waino in relief; first, he will be ready sooner since his outings will be shorter. Second, everyone has piled on the pen “we would be in first if they only blew 1/2 the save opportunities.” Well, Waino can have an immediate positive impact on 3 to 4 games per week in the pen (not just one as a starter). He’ll bring relief to the relievers who have been overused. Truth is, our starters are doing pretty well, and better than the pen. Why not use Waino where he can be most helpful, and where our need is the greatest? I would love nothing more than to see him perform down the stretch like he did in 2006. Fact is, no one else is ready to do it. One thing is for sure … no closer, no playoffs!

You do realize if Wainwright goes to the bullpen, he can’t pitch everyday, he’ll have about 3 or 4 appearances a week. Whereas if he goes to the rotation he can save the bullpen by going deeper into games. You say our starting rotation is good, but lets take a look. Pineiro, Looper, and Wellemeyer, average just a little over 5 innings a start, and carpenter hasn’t gone more than 5 1/3 innings yet, meaning our bullpen has to pitch almost 4 innings a game every time they go out there. I’d rather our starters go deeper into games, which Wainwright can do. And Wainwright would close if he went into the bullpen, why him when you can just make Perez the closer already? I’ll put this in simpler terms for you, if our starters go deeper into games, your bullpen pitches less innings, if the bullpen pitches less, they don’t screw up as much.

Yeah I agree Crazy, but the only thing that might happen is Waino not being able to go deep into games for the first 3 weeks to a month, so what help would he be for that first part… I would rather have him in the rotation too, I am just being the devil’s advocate…

Great blog! Keep up the good work. Check out my blog. I just wrote an article about Cardinals’ farmhand Mark Hamilton. I hope you enjoy and feel free to comment
“The Hot Corner” – http://dailyrant.mlblogs.com/

Crazy, there are a lot of ifs and assumptions in your Waino as a starter plan. In “simpler terms,” if the dog didn’t stop to drop a deuce, he would have caught the rabbit. If Waino is his old self, he pitches 7 or 8 innings – roughly two more innings than our other starters. That’s what he saves the pen in a week as a starter – a couple of innings. As a closer, he saves the pen the same or more, AND he is a proven closer. He knows what it takes to close. You can’t just run anyone out there in the ninth. The last three outs ARE the toughest. Otherwise, Springer, Franklin, Perez, Mac, Izzy, etc would be doing the job just fine. I just believe, in the short run (this season), Waino gives us the best option to close games and make a playoff run. Wouldn’t you take him over all the other options with the game on the line?

Let’s look at this another way. In mid-Sept, we have six games with the Cubs. Would you rather have Waino start at most two games and then turn it over to Izzy and company (we win one maybe?). Or, what if he gets a chance to close three or four of six (we win three, maybe four?) I would just much rather have Waino face Lee, Ramirez, and Edmonds with the game on the line than any other reliever. Let’s face it, since we don’t have Sabathia, Webb, etc. as our starters, the closer role is critical. Put your best in that spot … Waino.

M, I have a question about your mailbag. The last question was about starting pitchers, and one name you didn’t mention was Kyle McClellan. Are we keeping him in hte pen forever, or is he going to fulfill the AW path and be a starter?

I don’t see why we just don’t make Perez the closer and make Waino a starter, to me that makes more sense. Then we can move one of our starters to the bullpen and have him be long relief, and remove whoever’s the weakest link. Franklin, Izzy, someone else?

Question-who do you move from the rotation… everyone seems to hate pinero (2 quality starts in a row) and love Loshe (2 not so great starts in a row). Now i know you cant judge a pitcher on 2 starts… we’ve been down that road. But Loshe seems to have lost something the past couple of weeks and Pinero seems to have picked it up for whatever reason. Nothing diffinitive, just food for thought.

Not hate Pinero- thats harsh, sorry… I frankly like the guy. He seems like a straight shooter in the interviews after a game, win or loss. Takes the blame if he stinks it up. But he hasent performed like I think most had hoped, not knowing what to expect either. anyways… like i said who do you pull? I guess whoever they have in place of Carp now. (btw good luck Carp, hope its not serious)

Lohse may have put up two not so decent starts in a row, but he’s pitched well through the entire year, Pineiro hasn’t. And Pineiro hasn’t given two good starts in a row, he’s given one, 4 runs in the previous game isn’t considered a good start in my opinion.

My ideal 5 would be Wainwright, Wellemeyer, Carpenter, Lohse, Looper. I do have reservations about that, though. You guys remember M’s post about Lohse being their (TLR & Dunc’s) guy? He posted that after a game in which Lohse was left in, when normally Larussa makes the move. If I remember correctly Lohse lost the game, and he hasn’t been the same since. He hasn’t been terrible, but he hasn’t been the same. It’s like he lost some of his confidence that night. I was of the opinion then that he shouldn’t have been left in, but as bad as our pen is he almost had to leave him in. Anyways, my point is if Lohse doesn’t regain earlier form, if he’s tired or whatever, he and Pineiro could split time. TLR has flirted before with idea of a 6 man rotation. Why not try that down the stretch to get those guys some rest?

My, the mob is fickle these days. I admit, I’d rather see Perez get the chance. But, he is only one foolish Uggla steal attempt and one fortunate double play ball last night from having the mob screaming for his head on a platter. Not dominant, but getting the job done. It also helps when the Cards add a run or two in the ninth as they have done in both wins vs the Fish. I’d be standing with the mob myself if Perez had another pitch he could throw for strikes besides the heater. Guess that is the life of a closer – you’re only as good or as bad as your last outing! Oh, by the way, I’d still feel better with Waino in the ninth!

It looked to me like he pitched better with runners on than the bases empty. As long as the job gets done, does it matter how it is done? Sometimes, but in this case I don’t know if I care. Besides, his lines in the minors were similar to what he does at the big league level right now. He’s a young fireballer, so he’s going to be a little erratic with control and walk his fair share of batters, but if he keeps his composure, he should be able to come through for the team.

I tell you what, his potential sure does look good. If he can use the rest of this year and spring training next year to polish up… you get the idea. Also, do pitchers play winter ball? Is that an option to get him more experience?

Responding to the comments about Rolen last year and Glaus this year concerning how you approach one or the other. I think that the situations are totally different. Scott Rolen was hurt last year and couldn’t swing the bat at the time. Apparently is “whizzed off” the wrong man! The team comes first…period. Glaus hasn’t been pouting about his role. When asked, he asked to play and had a heckava game. As much as I liked Scott Rolen, I believe he ripped his britches with the management.
We can all second guess decisions made by the management. The trade for Glaus has paid off when one compares. Just hope management addresses the pitching situation before next year. Several million dollars have been paid to players who couldn’t perform this year. We’ve waited all year for pitchers to mend who haven’t. Use that 30 mill and get some pitching. for 2009. We could use a shortstop who can hit my weight. Renteria spoiled me years ago and I loved the example Little David Eckstein set.What working habits! No shortstop arm, but he made plays.
Some names out there who have done well for average teams sound pretty good to me; Roy Halladay, but I doubt the ‘Jays will trade him; Aaron Cook, Rockies is solid!; Bronson Arroyo, Reds ($4,500,000, winning 13-14 for the Reds.); Guthrie for Baltimore; young Greg Smith a lefty for the A’s from Louisiana; Braden is another young lefty for the A’s (ex-Red Raider); Jake Peavy, righty from the Pads.
Just thoughts, in realizing it’s not that easy.
We have some good young outfielders. Would like to see Ankiel in the line-up vs. lefties like early in the season. We lose too much over-all talent keeping him seated, then pinch-hit him. Do wish he and Ludwick would not free swing so much and be more selective. That’s hard to say when they have both had good to outstanding years.

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